2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awards Groundbreaking Cell Research

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Two U.S. scientists have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for
discovering a primary way the billions of cells in the body sense
their environment, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
announced today (Oct. 10).

In groundbreaking research, Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka
figured out the inner workings of so-called G-protein–coupled
receptors (GPCRs). These receptors, or tiny sensors on cells,
interact with the fight-or-flight hormone adrenalin (also called
epinephrine),
dopamine, serotonin, light, flavor and odor.

In fact, in times of stress, a type of GPCR mediates the many
effects of adrenaline, including dilation of pupils, constriction
of blood vessels and heart-rate increase.

"The work of Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka has helped us to
understand more fully how our cells react to external
influences such as the hormone adrenalin," Martyn Poliakoff,
foreign secretary and vice president of the Royal Society, said
in a statement.

"Understanding
how our bodies prepare for fight or flight is just one of the
applications of their work, which has also opened the door for a
wide range of new, more effective drug treatments with fewer side
effects," Poliakoff added.

These receptors mediate the effects of about half of all
medicines, including beta-blockers, antihistamines and several
psychiatric medications. GCPRs are also quite complex, and so
trying to image one of them seemed an elusive goal.

In 2011, Kobilka his research team did just that, capturing an
image of one GCPR called β-adrenergic receptor (it binds with the
hormone adrenaline) just as it was activated by the hormone and
sending a signal into the cell. "This image is a molecular
masterpiece – the result of decades of research," according to a
statement on the Nobel Prize website. [ In
Photos: Nobel Prize Winners 2012 ]

When the Royal Society called to let Kobilka know of his award
— it was the middle of the night for him in California — he
missed it. Luckily, they called again, but even then Kobilka
thought it was a prank. "I thought it was some friends initially.
But I don't have friends with a really good Swedish accent so
then I started believing it," he said during an interview with
the Nobel Prize website.

Kobilka, of Stanford University School of Medicine, and
Lefkowitz, of Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Duke University
Medical Center, will receive their Nobel Prizes on Dec. 10.

The Nobel Prizes
in physiology or medicine and
in physics were announced Monday (Oct. 8) and Tuesday (Oct.
9), respectively; the Nobels in Literature and in Peace will be
announced Thursday and Friday, respectively, with the Sveriges
Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences to be announced Monday, Oct.
15.